Alaskan Star Drilling Rig Catches Fire Offshore Brazil

Petrobras announces that on Tuesday (13/03) around 14:30, the drilling rig SS-39 (Alaskan Star), a semi-submersible drilling rig owned by Queiroz Galvao Oleo e Gas S.A caught fire 193 km off the coast of Macae in the Campos Basin. The fire was extinguished immediately and there were no casualties among the 102 board or reports of any significant environmental impact.

According to a report by Brazilian Energy regulator, ANP, the rig listed as much as 3 degrees during the incident and that a small quantity of drilling fluid, aka drilling mud, was leaked.

Safety devices triggered an automatic shut down of the well and the platform is stable. An investigation into the incident is underway.

The Alaskan Star is Panamanian flagged and was built by Mitsubishi in 1976.